 I recently finished reading The Black Tide: Rebellion (Tides of Blood, Book 2) by Baileigh Higgins. I did a full review of Book 1: Remnants at Bewildering Stories, which you can read here. I was also so excited by the first book that I asked Ms. Higgins if she'd do an interview with me, and she was kind enough to agree. You can read the full interview with her here.
Now, let's dive into Book 2 of the series. Almost everyone else is gone after a deadly disease called The Black Tide has swept across the world. In the first book, the disease was passed manually from victim to victim when in close proximity to someone who was sick - sort of like the flu. The way to avoid contagion was wearing a mask and avoiding contact with bodily fluids. But the first book closes on a horrible mutation of the sickness, which makes it airborne. The survival strategies of hiding from the disease become useless, and the second wave of The Black Tide wipes out nearly everyone. Ava, her younger sister Lexi, and two acquaintances of theirs are four Immunes, who remain untouched by the disease. But with death surrounding them, they flee their hometown of Riebeeckstad to a remote cabin owned by her ex-boyfriend's family. Ava's still in love with Brian, her ex-boyfriend. They had a brief romance during the first phase of the disease, but he's a soldier, and he was sent to guard the border of South Africa before the second wave hit. Yet she still hopes against hope to see him again, although she knows it's highly unlikely he survived. Immunes are fairly rare. Yet in Book 2, the reader anticipates a reunion between the two of them. Brian does survive the second outbreak, and he is traveling back from the border with two fellow soldiers, everyone else having perished. His only mission is to find Ava again. Ava, meanwhile, is just trying to survive. She meets four other Immunes when she makes a supply run to the nearby town, and she's unsure whether she can trust them or not. Her decision could be the turning point of her life, and might lose her the hard-won peace that she's found with her friends and family at the cabin. Although Book 2 is a bit slower, action-wise, than the first book, I really enjoyed the slow build of tension. As a reader, you just know something's about to hit the fan. And the ending of the book doesn't disappoint, being as much of a cliffhanger as Book 1. I went to turn the page and - darn it! - there wasn't any more. Book 3: Vanquish will be available in October - and I can't wait to see what happens next (although I'll have to!). If you're a fan of apocalyptic fiction, this is a great series to pick up. I'd definitely recommend it. Comments are closed.
|